<!doctype HTML public "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Frameset//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<meta name="generator" content="Adobe RoboHelp - www.adobe.com">
<title>About creating documents</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="userhelp_ns.css"><script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" title="WebHelpSplitCss">
<!--
if (navigator.appName !="Netscape")
{   document.write("<link rel='stylesheet' href='userhelp.css'>");}
//-->
</script>
<style type="text/css">
<!--
ul.whs1 { list-style:disc; }
p.whs2 { margin-left:0px; }
p.whs3 { margin-left:24px; }
p.whs4 { background-color:Transparent; font-weight:normal; }
-->
</style><script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript">
<!--
if ((navigator.appName == "Netscape") && (parseInt(navigator.appVersion) == 4))
{
  var strNSS = "<style type='text/css'>";
  strNSS += "p.whs2 {margin-left:1pt; }";
  strNSS += "p.whs4 {background-color:white; }";
  strNSS +="</style>";
  document.write(strNSS);
}
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" title="WebHelpInlineScript">
<!--
function reDo() {
  if (innerWidth != origWidth || innerHeight != origHeight)
     location.reload();
}
if ((parseInt(navigator.appVersion) == 4) && (navigator.appName == "Netscape")) {
	origWidth = innerWidth;
	origHeight = innerHeight;
	onresize = reDo;
}
onerror = null; 
//-->
</script>
<style type="text/css">
<!--
div.WebHelpPopupMenu { position:absolute; left:0px; top:0px; z-index:4; visibility:hidden; }
-->
</style><script type="text/javascript" language="javascript1.2" src="whmsg.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="whver.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript1.2" src="whproxy.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript1.2" src="whutils.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript1.2" src="whlang.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript1.2" src="whtopic.js"></script>
</head>
<body><script type="text/javascript" language="javascript1.2">
<!--
if (window.gbWhTopic)
{
	if (window.addTocInfo)
	{
	addTocInfo("Creating and modifying documents and dashboards\nCreating and formatting a document\nAbout creating documents");
addButton("show",BTN_TEXT,"Show","","","","",0,0,"","","");

	}
	if (window.writeBtnStyle)
		writeBtnStyle();

	if (window.writeIntopicBar)
		writeIntopicBar(1);

	if(1)
	{
	
	}

	if (window.setRelStartPage)
	{
	setRelStartPage("MicroStrategy_Web_Help.htm");

		autoSync(1);
		sendSyncInfo();
		sendAveInfoOut();
	}
}
else
	if (window.gbIE4)
		document.location.reload();

//-->
</script>
<h1>About creating documents</h1>
<p>A MicroStrategy Report Services document contains objects representing 
 data coming from one or more reports, as well as positioning and formatting 
 information. It is used to format data from multiple reports in a single 
 display of presentation quality. When you create a document, you can specify 
 the data that appears, control the layout, formatting, grouping, and subtotaling 
 of data, and specify the position of page breaks. In addition, you can 
 insert pictures and draw borders in the document.</p>
<p>Most of the data on a document is from an underlying dataset. A dataset 
 is a MicroStrategy report that defines the information that the Intelligence 
 Server retrieves from your data warehouse or cache. </p>
<p>For a complete introduction to documents, with images, examples, and 
 tutorials based on MicroStrategy Desktop, see the <span style="font-style: italic;"><I>MicroStrategy 
 Report Services Document Creation Guide</I></span>.</p>
<p>If you are new to designing documents, see 
<a href="Best_practices_documents.htm">Best 
 practices: Designing effective documents</a>.</p>
<h2>Prerequisites</h2>
<ul type="disc" class="whs1">
	
<li class=p><p>The information for documents in this online help assumes 
 that you understand how to create reports. For information on reports, 
 see 
<a href="About_reports.htm">About reports</a> and 
<a href="Creating_and_formatting_reports.htm">Overview 
 and checklist to create a report</a>.</p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>A MicroStrategy Report Services product license.</p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>To create documents, you must have document designer 
 privileges.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Methods to create a document</h2>
<p>You can create a document in any of the following ways:</p>
<ul type="disc" class="whs1">
	
<li class=p><p>
<a HREF="Creating_a_document_from_scratch.htm">From 
 scratch</a>: Create a document from start to finish, by selecting the 
 data to be included and formatting the document. Documents use 
<a href="Datasets_in_documents.htm">datasets</a> 
 (or MicroStrategy reports) as sources of data on the documents. </p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a HREF="Creating_a_document_using_a_template.htm">From 
 a template</a>: You can use another document as a template, which allows 
 you to pattern the new document after an existing one. The same dataset, 
 controls, formatting, and layout as the original are used in the new document. 
 You can add to or modify the document after it is created.</p></li>
	
<li class=p><p class="whs2">
<a HREF="Create_doc_from_report.htm">From 
 a report</a>: You can start with a MicroStrategy report, and use the report 
 as the document's primary dataset. The report is added to a new document 
 as a Grid/Graph in the Detail Header section of the document. </p></li>
</ul>
<h3>Adding text and content: Grid/Graphs and text fields</h3>
<ul type="disc" class="whs1">
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Add_text_data_to_documents.htm">Adding text 
 and data to documents</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p class="whs2">
<a href="Add_auto_text_codes.htm">Adding 
 auto text codes to documents</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h3>Adding structure and images</h3>
<ul type="disc" class="whs1">
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Add_lines_to_documents.htm">Adding lines to 
 documents</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Add_rectangles_to_documents.htm">Adding rectangles 
 to documents</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Add_page_breaks_to_document.htm">Adding page 
 breaks to a document</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Add_page_numbers_to_document.htm">Adding page 
 numbers to a document</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Add_GG_to_documents.htm">Adding Grid/Graphs 
 to documents</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Add_images_to_documents.htm">Adding images 
 to documents</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Insert_sections.htm">Adding a section to a 
 document</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h3>Placing, moving, and formatting objects</h3>
<p class="whs3">After you add controls, you can specify how 
 they are formatted and displayed:</p>
<ul type="disc" class="whs1">
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Sections_in_documents.htm">Working with different 
 sections of documents</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Move_controls_on_documents.htm">Moving controls 
 on documents</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Snapping_controls_to_the_grid.htm">Snapping 
 controls to the grid</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Distribute_controls.htm">Distributing controls 
 on documents</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Ordering_controls_on_documents.htm">Ordering 
 controls on documents</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Sizing_controls_on_documents.htm">Sizing controls 
 on documents</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a HREF="Grouping_data.htm">Grouping records in a document</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a HREF="Sort_document.htm">Sorting data in a document</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Formatting_a_document.htm">Formatting a document</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h3>Adding interactive features: widgets, panels, panel stacks, selectors</h3>
<p class="whs3">Some control types provide interactivity 
 and visually intuitive graphic images. These controls include 
<a href="Panels_and_panel_stacks.htm">panels</a>, 
 
<a href="Panels_and_panel_stacks.htm">panel stacks</a>, 
<a href="Selectors.htm">selectors</a>, 
 and 
<a href="Widgets.htm">widgets</a>. These controls are most commonly 
 used on 
<a href="Running_and_analyzing_documents.htm">dashboards</a>. 
 For examples of dashboards and these controls, and steps to create them, 
 see 
<a href="Dynamic_dashboards.htm">Designing dynamic enterprise dashboards</a>. 
 </p>
<h2>Related topics</h2>
<ul type="disc" class="whs1">
	
<li class=p><p class="whs4">
<a 
 HREF="Opening_and_viewing_documents.htm">Running and viewing a document 
 or dashboard</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p class="whs4">
<a 
 HREF="Run_prompted_documents.htm">Answering questions for a prompted document</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p class="whs4">
<a 
 HREF="Best_practices_documents.htm">Best practices: Designing effective 
 documents</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p class="whs4">
<a 
 HREF="Applying_banding.htm">Applying color banding to a report or document</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p class="whs4">
<a 
 HREF="Export_a_document.htm">Exporting a document</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p class="whs4">
<a 
 HREF="Creating_metrics_in_documents.htm">Creating metrics in documents</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p class="whs4">
<a 
 href="HTML_Containers.htm">Displaying HTML content in dashboards: HTML 
 Containers</a></p></li>
</ul>
<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript1.2">
<!--
highlightSearch();
if (window.writeIntopicBar)
	writeIntopicBar(0);
if(0)
{

}
//-->
</script>
</body>
</html>
